Vietnam starts seismic surveys for first nuclear power plant

Nearly 100 workers and engineers Thursday started seismic surveys at the location of Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant in the central province of Ninh Thuan, a local news website reported the same day.

VnExpress quoted Phan Minh Tuan, deputy chief of Ninh Thuan nuclear power project management board, as saying that the survey team will also drill for more than 3,000 meters at sea to collect comprehensive data for construction and operation works later.

According to the plan of national electricity development, work on the country’s first two nuclear power plants in Ninh Thuan will start in December 2014, and be completed in 2022

The plants will be built with hi-end technology that is able to handle heat radiation automatically within 72 hours in case of problems, the VnExpress report said.

In October, 2010, Vietnam signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Russia to build its first nuclear power plant. Russia in November last year agreed to lend Vietnam some US$9 billion for the project.

Vietnam also plans to cooperate with Japan on two other nuclear reactors. Thirteen nuclear plants with the total capacity of 16,000 megawatts are slated to go into operation in the country over the next two decades.